Writer/director Brendan Sweeny, whose first film—“Era Apocrypha”—took a nomination for Best Short Film at the 71st Venice International Film Festival in 2014, spent two days at Be Electric this past November to film his second short, “Photogenia.” With seven actors and a six-person crew, Brooklyn-based Sweeny took advantage of the Be Electric to create a 30-minute film with the intimacy of a stage play and depth of a novella.

Told in three asymmetrical chapters, the film is a multi-character mosaic of intertwined lives, centering around three people who find themselves inside of a photo studio on the same day while they wrestle with the events that brought them there. What emerges is a meditation on fate and consequence, and one that points a flood light into the darkest corners of the human experience.

We spoke to Sweeny two days before Christmas, as he was taking a short break before ramping up festival submissions to get the new work in front of audiences worldwide.

Tell us about your film. How did it come about? What inspired its creation?

After my last fim, Era Apocrypha, aired in Venice and was shown around the world, I was excited to return to the short form, but wanted to do something in a new vein—something more contained, but also more open. I liked the idea of experimenting with long takes and seeing the tension that unfolds when you present characters in front of that unblinking eye. In addition, I wanted to make something that was open to interpretation—not super abstract, but more of a rorschach so that each viewer would be invited to make it their own, to experience it in their own way. I liked the idea that everyone would be watching the same film, but everyone would tie it together in their own way. Really what I wanted to strive for was for the film to be an individual experience—and feel we’ve really achieved that.

How and why did you use Be Electric’s space to bring this vision to life?

First off it was so easy. Basically, because they are a rental house, we were able to rent almost all of our equipment from Be Electric—it was all there waiting for us on the day we began shooting. Not only that, but they were super helpful, responsive, and enthusiastic that we were shooting with them. It was like they were fans as well. Also, as most of our cast was Brooklyn based (as am I), the location was convenient. I mean, being able jump on the subway and show up with essentially a backpack and get started—any time you can do that, it’s a dream. And it’s a beautiful space, too; versatile, clean, basically soundproof. For this kind project, where we filmed what amounted to one static shot of a photo studio, being at Be Electric reduced a number of challenges we might otherwise have faced so we could get to work with the project of filming from go.

What’s next for you and the Photogenia team? And will you be back to film at Be Electric soon?

We finished the film mid-November and slowed down for the holiday season. But in early 2019 we’ll figure out what the festival presence will be like. We did a private showing at a friend’s place the other night—they have a projector—and it really lends itself to being on a large screen. So we really hope it gets to travel and be shown in front of audiences that way. Because the film does have similarity to a play—people coming into and out of the frame, people off screen interacting with each monologue—replicating that theatrical experience will make it more impactful. That’ll be our next focus: giving it as large and as long of a life as possible! And yes—we’ll be back to Be Electric! I’m really excited to work with them again. My next film is still in the writing stages. All I know is it’s going to be something quite different, so we’ll see. Or should I say we’ll be in touch soon!

This rad video came out recently featuring rising Chinese pop artist, XNINE Wu Jiacheng (X玖少年团 伍嘉成). Our Studio 2 stage was transferred into a fun stage for XNINE and his dancers to groove to his new hit. The song is extremely catchy and had us peeking into the studio to watch the dancers nail every beat.

The stage itself makes you want to grab your closest friends, head to a roller rink, and spin under a disco ball. Kudos to this team for putting together a music video that really captures your attention!

A few months ago, we had the one and only Bill Nye in our studios to photograph in prep for an interview with Stephanie LaCava. The interview released on Vice’s i-D last week and we are loving the message. In the article, Bill discusses how space affects us on on earth a daily even when we don’t realize it! Bill explains it as “When the weather report is off 15 minutes, people start complaining, because we get all this weather information, communications, data transfers, from satellites. We depend on space.”

The iconic figure to our culture further discusses the US’ role in space exploration and why investing in science is crucial to such a matter. Furthermore, the interview moves on to highlight the anti-science movement that has been occurring in the US today.

In reading his interview, Bill seemed rather upbeat in what he had to say in his interview. Even when asked about an article released on NYT, he responded that he hadn’t seen it, but later emailed his response! The way that he follows through 100% is something that inspires us greatly and is just one of many reasons why we were so stoked to have him in our studios.

The photos taken by Katie McCurdy turned out great! Check out some of our favorites, below and let us know which one is your favorite of this ultra rad science guy.

A few weeks ago, we had BMW in our studios for their latest ad campaign produced by Critical Mass Agency and lit by the amazing Nonotak Studio. Nonotak is a mind-blowing audio visual company from Paris/Tokyo who specialize in light installations for concerts, brands, and more! Their designs are awe-inspiring if you ask us and absolutely perfect for showcasing this sweet BMW.

For this spot, the BMW was parked in our drive-in capable Studio 2. Complete with projections, haze, and Quasar lighting technologies, the results are ultra sleek. With the audio mixing and visual art, the results are stunning.

Our good friends over at Neighborhood Watch were in our studios recently to shoot a music video for Parquet Courts. As always, their videos pack the elements of fun and curiosity that has the viewers wanting more.

Directed by Claes Nordwall, the video for "Freebird II" was released on Youtube yesterday and has already garnered 10k views. The song itself is a groovy summer anthem perfect for that Brooklyn rooftop hang with friends. Just imagine sitting on your roof staring at the city while listening to these dudes jam this song.

Absolute magic.

The video itself was shot by Zach Stoltzfus (DP) with Jesse Sanchez-Strauss as his 1st AC and Riede Dervay as the 2nd AC. It packs the elements that you'd expect from a Parquet Courts music video while keeping things simple and, of course, fun.

In April, we had the pleasure of working with the talented post-punk quartet, Protomartyr, hailing from Detroit, Michigan. Working out of Studios 3 & 4, they filmed a music video for their song, “Wheel of Fortune.” The combination of clashing guitar chords over edits of inherently dangerous acts leaves the viewer with a seemingly intended deep-rooted sense of anxiety. The song is off their 2018 release titled, Consolation E.P.

“Wheel of Fortune,” was directed by Yoonha Park with Zach Stoltzfus as the Director of Photography. Produced by Traci Carlson, Richard Peete, & Brittany Reeber over at Neighborhood Watch. 1st AD was Taylor Thompson, Styling done by Joshua Hurt, and Pete Gerner on HMU. Production Design by Evan Schafer, Props by Eugene Choi, and Art. Asst. Sean Walker. Editing done by Yoonha Park and VFX by Michael Peete.

Recently we had the talented Seattle rapper DoNormaal record her music video "Buckle" in our studios. The song is a part of her Third Daughter LP. The video premiered through i-D magazine and immediately got amazing responses. The combination of lighting, choreography, and vocals make this video irresistible. The rapper was accompanied by dancer Rukiya McCormick in the video.

The "Buckle" video was directed by Joey Chriqui, shot by Josh Echevarria, and produced by Alberto Caruana. The rest of the team consisted of Savta-NYC on the post production, VFX by Trejo, and lastly color by Kath Raisch. The whole team came together to make an amazing end product, that we feel lucky to have been apart of.

Director Coco and Julian Muller came together recently to shoot a wonderful video piece at our sound stages for Moxy Hotels. The behind the scenes photos have been overwhelming gorgeous and color oriented. Moxy had quite the crew come together to make this amazing shoot happen, ranging from celebrity makeup artist Romero Jennings (@romerojennings) who created some magical looks on model/musican Alix Brown, to Adin Walker's dynamic choreography and movement. The video will be dropping in a few short weeks and we can't wait to show you it!

Until then, feast your eyes upon these amazing pictures and get excited about seeing the end result very soon!

We recently had Damn Joan with Gay Against Guns in our studios shooting a video about the recent and prominent issue of gun violence in our school's across America.

"In partnership with Gays Against Guns and our graceful director Sara Nell McDowell, you helped create a moving piece that brings forth the alarming prevalence of school gun violence in this country, while also holding space for those who have lost their lives to it on this this powerful day -- April 20th, 2018.

This was made in honor of the 19th anniversary of Columbine and in action with today's National School Walkout, just 64 days after Parkland. " - Lauren Teng & The Damn Joan Family

Recently we had Pepsi at our studios to shoot their new campaign for their new product, Bubly tonic drinks! They did something different this time around--they built a several sets, all to shoot a series of GIF's featuring Neil Patrick Harris. They are hilarious! You can download them to your phone as a set or just choose a few of your favorites. The gifs relate to all and any situations the product might appear in, plus they show you all the new flavors. Check them out at https://giphy.com/bublywater. Here are some screenshots to act as previews in the meantime! Thanks for using our studios, Pepsi! We can't wait to try these new bubly waters! So many flavors and colors- oh my!

Last month we did a feature on a music video for the group Lila. It was Directed and Produced by Stefano Pennisi, before hand he answered some questions for us regarding the project! He mentioned in his initial interview, "The end result is really something special - You are getting all these mixes of bright florescent colors and different cool looks while still feeling like its part of this black void where everything lives within. I think it's pretty unique and I can't wait to share it with everyone."

Well, the time is up people! The final result is here! Check out the video, send them your love, and let us know your thoughts!

Thank you to the whole team for using our studios for this awesome project.

Recently, Winky Lux, the indie beauty brand based out of the Lower East Side, here in NYC, had their second shoot in our studios with photographer Matt Coch. They had a furry pal to help market their new launch of the 'Kitten Palette.' We had a quick chat with the creative director, Kate Fernandez about the magic that went in to bringing this campaign to life.

Recently we had Stefano Pennisi and his crew shooting music video’s for the band Lila. Stefano got back to with us with some pretty amazing details on the whole production. Check out these killer BTS photos and keep reading to be completely amazed by the art that went into this project.

1. What was the direction or end goal you had for this project?

“We've been in the process of making a series of different music videos for the North Carolina native Hip-Folk band 'LiLa'. Their new album, 'V', is something really special and each song, while feeling like they belong together on the same album, feels entirely different from one another. We've made some videos that feel very raw and stripped down, and some that feel like cleaner big budget productions.

For this particular project, we wanted the video to stand out above the rest as their most flashy and stylized. This is for their upcoming single, "Oasis..." so we really wanted it to be cool and sharable. I want people to watch this video and send it to their friend and say "You have to check this out".

What we decided to do was to create this entire black space and film it in a way that made it seem like our characters were living in this black void. It's pure darkness, but our characters are these sources of light that keep flashing on the screen with the music. We also wanted it to have somewhat of a retro - vibe to match the song, so we pretty quickly decided to use multi-colored florescent lights as the only source of light.

The band is made up of two members - Jon Le Sueur (Jla) and Eli McDuffee, who together write, produce, and preform all the music. In this particular song they are singing about girls and the games they can play when dating. We decided to include a model (Robin Owens) in the video to represent the girls they are singing about and then the video really came together. We decided that we would assign a different color to each one of them. Jla would be red, Eli would be blue, and the girl would be pink/purple - a mix of their two colors.

While we wanted to live in this black space, we still wanted it to feel like a classic music video at times, so we decided to have the lights play in our master shot and have them suspended behind our talent as a back light. This looks really grounds the video as a music video while allowing the rest of the aesthetic to have more context.

The end result is really something special - You are getting all these mixes of bright florescent colors and different cool looks while still feeling like its part of this black void where everything lives within. I think it's pretty unique and I can't wait to share it with everyone.”

2. What was your favorite part of the production?

“Well obviously working at Be Electric was a great part of the production. When trying to come up with the initial creative idea for this video, the first thing we all decided on was that we wanted it to be a studio shoot. We wanted to make sure we could have full control of the set and keep it very self contained. We spent a long time trying to find the right studio space that was flexible and willing to work with us, and once I went and scouted to Be Electric studio space, I knew it was where we wanted to shoot.

The studio space was perfect and your team was very helpful and adaptable to our needs. We were able to have our privacy and do our thing, but you were also available whenever we needed anything. You guys really were flexible and willing to work with us and that made a huge difference. I remember when we finally showed up to set, we realized we needed extra equipment / gear and you had it dropped off and delivered within 20 minutes. It was awesome.”

3. Go to equipment or camera for this project?

“For camera equipment we used a RED camera with a Helium sensor, but we never shot higher than 6K. We just kept the camera on a tripod at all times and moved it closer to set for each new lighting set up.

For lenses we actually just used Canon series primes. We thought because of what we were capturing and how self contained everything was going to be, they would do the trick.

For lighting we only used Asteria Pixel Tubes. These things are awesome and I think everyone should use them at some point. We had about 10 of them all synced up to an tablet and could control them all at once, individually, or in any combination. The tablet allows you to change them to any color on the spectrum as well as endless strobing / flashing combinations. We hung them from the ceiling with fishing line as well as used c-stands and clamps to position them however we needed.

To completely black out the space, we decided to build an enclosure out of 20x20 solids. We used 4 total - three for the side and back walls and the fourth for the floor. We just used some strong zip ties to hang them from the ceiling and sand bags on the floor to hold them in place.

All in all it was an incredible shoot and we're all very excited about it. We're finishing up the post - production right now and it should be released sometime in mid - late March.”

Thank you to the whole crew for choosing our studios for such an exciting project! When the finished products are dropped we will be posting them to our Instagram- don’t forget to check back in!

Fernando Martinez is a media creative that helped put together the Alexander Watch Commercial, which was recently shot at our studios. His BTS photos first caught our attention due to their simplicity and cleanliness showing off our space. The beauty of the art direction for the project was also something we loved. We asked him a few questions regarding the production at our studio space.. The finalized product has yet to hit the air but we have the behind the scenes photos for you in the meantime.. Enjoy!

1. What was the direction or end goal you had for this project?

-Our Director Sal D'alia aimed to represent characteristics of elegance and precision through a dancer was the goal for Alexander Watches' Branding Commercial.

As is tradition, when a new year comes, new resolutions do too. Many resolutions have to do with working out more or eating healthier, all of which in turn help with one's overall mental health. With these thoughts in mind we wanted to highlight a recent project shot by Complex Media at our stages. The video is an eight minute introspective on the world-renowned recording artist Azealia Banks. The piece goes into detail about the limelight that sometimes prevents superstars like herself from being seen as a ‘real person’. This limelight places stars like her in a place where fans may forget that these artists also go through the same day to day struggles as us, as well as some different ones that fans may not be aware of at all. Due to the constant microscope on their daily affairs and pressure to be perfect, as well as constantly pushing out new, riveting work, the burden on these artists is very real. Azealia and the video itself come across as very raw, as you see wide shots of our NYC studio space and the equipment used, while the artist goes into harsh detail about her hardships to find proactive ways to push her mental health forward in a positive way. Her music comes across as very strong and happy, but as stated, she is nothing more than a flawed human like the rest of us. We absolutely love this piece and the new perspective it sheds on not only her life but a lot of entertainment industry big shots lives’.

In summation, Azealia states “Every day is a difficult time, I’m Azealia Banks.” Thank you to Complex Media for choosing our film production studio, and a big thank you to Azealia for being so honest with the public about such a sensitive subject. We hope each and everyone of you is able to conquer your 2018 resolutions for a better outlook and overall life.

Last month we opened up our Brooklyn Soundstage to the one and only Sharon Needles to shoot a music video for the first single off of her latest album, "Battle Axe". Aside from being an avid performer and recording artist, Needles, the "PBR Princess" is best known for being crowned "America's Next Drag Superstar" on the 4th season of RuPaul's Drag Race. She joined forces with Producer/Director, Santiago Felipe to create this hilariously dark video, paying homage to such films as Mommy Dearest and Devil Wears Prada. The sets were drenched in colors that pop onscreen, while the talent filled the space with their contrasting dark costumes. Fairly simple, yet incredibly effective use of lighting with a few overhead Arri's and some Kino Flo 4 banks to keep the shots nice and bright in our photo studio rental space. Ok, now stop reading and go get lost in the world of "Battle Axe"!

We recently had ABC Projects at our Brooklyn soundstage to shoot a new spot for Casper and their awesome new line of mattresses. Casper is an NYC based company that is known for eliminating the need for showrooms and creating an easy way to ship out there state of the art mattresses to their customers with a compact box at a fraction of the price. The shoot itself was fairly stripped down as far as the set design, placing it's main focus on the mattress with the use of a jib operator, some great NYC talents along with some diffused lighting techniques. Always love watching new businesses bring their work to life at our photo studio rental space! Check back soon for the final product.